Ren picked up his phone. His expression showed that he was disgusted by the person who he was talking to on the phone. Then he hung up the phone. He looked at the time and left the cafe to go home.
Ren arrived at the Hasegawa's resident. It's more like a mansion than a house. The bodyguards bowed at him and he went upstairs. He walked towards the room at the end of the hallway. He knocked on the door.
"Who is it?"
Ren leans towards the door.
"It's me."
Aiko opens the door and looking at Ren.
"Come in."
Aiko sits on her desk and continues working on her homework. Ren sits on Aiko's bed and watches her study.
"Have you eaten dinner yet?"
Aiko shakes her head and keeps doing her homework. Ren exhales deeply.
"I'm sorry for what I said earlier."
Aiko keeps focusing on her books.
"I don't need Nii-Sama's apology. Your apology won't change the fact you're going to throw him as soon as Nii-Sama gets what you want."
Ren stands up and approaches Aiko. When He about to open his mouth. Aiko sighs,
"If there's nothing else, I would like to be alone for now. I need to focus on my homework."
Ren is standing beside Aiko.
"Why do you care so much about him?"
Aiko's hand is gripping the mechanical pencil so firmly that it's about to break.
"Why? Because he's the son of someone important in my life! Nii-Sama knows that and yet you still ask me that and want to throw him away anyway?"
Aiko snapped her mechanical pencil in half.
"Just leave! I don't want you to be here!"
Aiko is breathing heavily. This is the first time Aiko is looking at Ren with anger. Ren rubs his forehead and walks away from Aiko. He turns around.
"I'm not going to throw him away. I never even planning to do that in the first place."
Aiko is grabbing another mechanical pencil from her purse.
"I don't believe your words. You are exactly like father."
Ren flinches.
"You should. Right now, you're the only person in this family that I can trust."
Aiko turns around and when she wants to see Ren's face, he's already outside and closing the door. Aiko is looking at the door for quite a while and then looks at the framed picture on her desk. She sighs and continues working on her homework.
Ren is on his way to his bedroom and then a maid approaches him.
"Young Master, your father is summoning you downstairs in his office."
Ren untightens his tie.
"Tell him I will be there in a minute. I need to wash my face and get change."
Ren raises his hand.
"Oh. Please bring Aiko's dinner to her room and tell the chef to make a hamburger steak for her. He should know her favorite hamburger steak. Also..."
Ren opened his bag and pulled out a plastic bag filled with snacks and gave it to the maid.
"Give this to Aiko when you bring her dinner."
The maid bows.
"Yes, young master."
Ren is watching the maid leaving and then go to his bedroom. He changes his clothes and washes his face. Then he goes downstairs. The maids and servants are bowing down to him when he walks past them. He opens the door and an old man with grey hair is sitting behind his desk, Ryoma Hasegawa, the head family of the Hasegawa clan, and a black polished hair guy is sitting on the sofa in front of him. The old man is looking at Ren.
"Come in and have a sit."
Ren is walking towards the guy and sit in front of him.
"It's been a while, uncle Isao."
Isao smiles and nods.
"Ren! Indeed it's been a while."
Isao Hasegawa, the younger brother of Ryoma Hasegawa. He's 10 years younger than Ryoma. Isao is the official right-hand man of Ryoma that's focusing on doing business with a foreign businessman.
Ren is looking at Ryoma and then at Isao.
"What are you doing here, uncle Isao? Aren't you supposed to accompany a huge investor that's going to invest in father's business this week?"
Isao is rubbing his side chin.
"I told you on the phone earlier that I came here because I heard that Okoro was injured badly. I went to check on him at the doctor's place and I heard about what happened to him. It reminds me of my young self Right, Aniki?"
Ryoma with her crooked smiles just nods. Isao clears his throat.
"So I got some information about the kid that made Okuro injured..."
Ren put his hand on the table and glaring at Isao.
"Don't bother. It's none of your business. Not mine, not father's, not anyone's business."
Isao is looking at Ren.
"What's wrong with finding some information about an insignificant boy? Nothing at all!"
Ren sighs.
"You know that he's just an insignificant boy and yet you still want to get his information? What are you planning to do?"
Isao leans against the sofa.
"Nothing in particular. I just want to know."
Ren put another hand on the table.
"Stop spoiling Okuro! I know that he's your dearest nephew but that doesn't mean you need to do anything to please him. We all can handle our own problems. Are you trying to make him indebted to you and have to repay your favors in the future? That's what you always do and I have seen it all with my own eyes."
Ryoma fixes his seating.
"Enough, Ren. I summoned you here for a different matter."
Isao smiles and scuffs. Ren sighs and leans on the sofa.
"Yes, father."
Ryoma put both of his hands in front of his face while looking at the paper on her desk.
"I heard you ordered a lot of our men to protect a specific area in the city. Can I hear the reason why?"
Ren fixes his seating.
"Those men I ordered are under my name, so father doesn't have to worry about it. I ordered them is because of my promise to Norl-Kun and his friends. Father should remember the reports I gave you. The Sakurai clan is making a move and we still don't know what is the reason for them to target Norl-Kun and his friends. That's my reason."
Ren is tapping the table.
"I know what father is about to say. I'm not wasting our resources because the Sakurai's men dared to enter our territory and that alone counts as a threat. So it's a good thing to send our men there to see if there are another Sakurai's men hiding in our territory and clean them up."
Ryoma closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.
"Until when are you planning to make them stay there?"
Ren is looking at Ryoma.
"As long as I ordered them to."
Ryoma exhales deeply.
"Anything that happens to our men. You will be the one who takes the responsibility."
Ren nods.
"Of course."
The three of them then continued to discuss another matter about the business of the Hasegawa family. Three swords were pointing at each other and showed who is the sharpest and the most durable blade in that discussion. None of them took a side and each one of them stood tall with their arguments.
After a long discussion. Ryoma ended the discussion and then Ren excused himself to leave.
Isao lit his cigar and leaned on the sofa comfortably.
"He's exactly like you, Aniki. You were the only one who dared to raise your voice with confidence towards our late father. Now, how is it feel to be defeated by your own son in an argument? He even made you speechless. I never thought that I would witness such a one in a million occurrence."
Ryoma smiles.
"No, he's different from me. He's exactly like his mother. He and Aiko remind me of her."
Isao is sweeping his suit with his hands to remove the ashes from his cigar.
"You're not wrong, Aniki. They both are different from us. That's why I spoil Okuro since he reminds me of us."
Ryoma is looking at Isao's cigar.
"What Ren said is right. I never taught them to be dependent. You should stop doing that since Okuro is an adult now."
Isao clears his throat and puts off his cigar. He stands up and fixes his suit.
"I get it, I get it. I should leave now. I still have some business with our investor. I will see you soon, Aniki."
Ryoma nods and watches Isao leave.
Ren is walking upstairs after he ate his dinner. He glances at Aiko's room and then walks to his own bedroom. He opens his bedroom door and he sees Aiko standing in front of the window looking at the garden. Ren sits on the chair. Aiko turns around.
"Thank you for the snacks and the hamburger steak, Aniki."
Ren opens his books and does his homework.
"I bought all the snacks that you love so much as an apology."
Aiko sits on Ren's bed.
"How do you know about my favorite snacks?"
Ren smiles.
"I know everything about my Imouto (Little sister). Because you're like our mother. Your favorite foods, colors, and season are the same as her."
Aiko smiles.
"We both are like our mother. Also, I want to apologize for what I said earlier. I really didn't mean it, Aniki. I'm sorry."
Ren smiles.
"You don't have to. I deserve it."
Aiko stands up and looks at the garden again. Ren is doing his homework and then Aiko clears her throat.
"I want to visit mother's grave."